Endosulfan victims being paid ‘peanuts’: Karnataka HC

Bangalore: After questioning on why poisonous insecticide such as ‘endosulfan’ was being dumped into the country, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday termed the compensation of Rs 20 crore sanctioned by the state government to­wards more than 6,000 victims of endosulfan victims as ‘peanuts.’ The court took serious note of the ‘meagre’ compensation.

The division be­nch by Chief Jus­tice D.H. Waghela was hearing the suomotu PIL re­garding the plight of Endosulfan victims in the state particularly Dak­shina Kannada and Udupi district, based on the letter by high court judge K.L. Manjunath addressed to the then Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen expressing concern over the issue.

“The compensation of Rs 20 crore to 6,140 endosulfan victims in the state is nothing but peanuts. It is a greater tragedy when even compared to Bhopal gas tragedy. The state is dealing the issue as if it is the case of malaria,” court ob­served while seeking to known on whether the co­m­pensation can be rai­sed to Rs 500-600 crores.

The court had earlier exp­ressed displeasure over the compensation while ob­serving, “Why state should alone compensate the victims. It is the companies which are producing the poison, for profits by working against the interest of the public. The state should also work in directions towards sec­uring compensation for the victims from the companies which are indulging in business producing poison such as Endosulfan.”

The court also stressed upon the fact that Endosulfan is globally banned in a phased manner. The state has been directed to make its stand clear over the compensation by next date of hearing.

Water for Pavagada

The HC on Thursday disposed the PIL filed by Kar­nataka Rashtriya Kissan Sangha and other organisations from Pavagada taluk, seeking directions for supply of drinking wa­ter to Pavagada taluk thr­ough the pipeline, which supplies water to Nee­lakanta Puram Srirami Reddy water project in AP from Tungabhadra reservoir and passes about 10 kilometres of distance through Pavagada.

The court disposed the PIL following the affidavit filed by the engineer-in-chief of Panchayat Raj department stating that the state government has installed RO water purifying plants in most of the villages of Pavagada taluk.

Mayor B.S. Sathya­nara­yana inaugurated 24 hours emergency medical service at BBMP Dasappa Hospital on Thursday.

“The affidavit states that the state is providing pot­able water which is free of fluoride contents to all the villages in Pavagada taluk and it has planned to draw 3 TMC of water for Pava­gada taluk from Tun­gabhadra reservoir, which is at a distance of 180 km from the taluk,” said M. Erappa, advocate for the petitioners.